A Potted History of Middlewich
Middlewich is one of the Wich towns in Cheshire and lies at the coming together of the Rivers Dane, Croco and Wheelock; the Shropshire Union and Trent and Mersey Canals
It is an important location for salt manufacture.
The parish church for Middlewich is St. Michael and All Angels which dates back to the 12th century.
The town was founded by the Romans as Salinae after the salt deposits found in the area and was one of their major sites of salt production.
Middlewich lies across the King Street fault which follows King Street and then continues roughly following Brooks Lane.
Salinae is taken to be the Roman name for "the salt workings".
The Romans built a fort at Harbutts Field to the north of the town and excavations to the south of the fort have found evidence of further Roman activity including a well and part of a preserved Roman road. A further excavation in Buckley's Field found further evidence of Roman occupation.
A Roman Road, King Street, runs between Middlewich and nearby Northwich.
Middlewich was a junction between seven major Roman roads.
13 March 1643 is the date of the First Battle of Middlewich between the Parliamentarians under Sir William Brereton and the Royalist supporters of King Charles I under Sir Thomas Aston.
The Second Battle of Middlewich took place on the 26 December 1643. In the battle around 200 Parliamentarians were killed along with a number of Royalists under the command of Lord Byron.
Middlewich suffered a decimation of its young male population during the First World War. The cenotaph near to the parish church lists the names of 136 men who died in this conflict, representing around 10% of the male population of the town aged between 15 and 45 years.
Forty two inhabitants of Middlewich lost their lives in the Second World War with a further death in the Korean War.
The Brunner Mond salt works in Brooks Lane also erected a cenotaph in memory of the 16 men from the works who fell in the First World War and the two men from the works who fell in the Second World War
Salt manufacture has remained the principal industry for the past 2,000 years in Middlewich.
Salt making is mentioned in the Doomsday book and by the 13th century there were approximately 100 "wich houses" around the town's two brine pits.
By 1908 there were nine industrial scale salt manufacturers in the town with a number of open pan salt works close to the Canal.
Salt produced by British Salt in Middlewich has 57% of the UK market for salt used in cooking.
By the mid-19th century Middlewich was an important post on the stagecoach network with eight coaches calling every day.
The canal system was vital for the transporting of salt out of Middlewich and coal for use in salt production shipped in from Staffordshire.
Many local houses were built by the waterways companies and many of these dwellings had adjacent stables for the horses which pulled the barges.
Commercial use of the canals declined over the years but there has been a modern upsurge of interest in inland waterways for pleasure use. Several boat firms in the town now serve the needs of owners and hirers of pleasure craft.
